Olivier Debré at Simon Lee Gallery

‘A painting, however far removed from what it is agreed to call the representation of the world, remains an image of it.’ – Olivier Debré (1920–1999).

Across two gallery floors, Simon Lee Gallery showcases the work of French lyrical abstract painter Olivier Debré. Capturing the emotional experience of natural phenomena and the outside world, the exhibition explores the intensity of Debré's colour-field paintings produced from 1980 to 1999.

After witnessing the horrors of the Second World War Debré stepped away from his architectural training at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris to focus on painting, seeking inspiration and sanctuary in the natural world. The exhibition’s canvases, made by Debré in the later stage of his career, translate his desire to capture the power and wonder of the sites he encountered by the use of luminescent, fluid backgrounds, highlighted with strong accents of colour.

His works from the 1980s and ‘90s contrast the artist’s early monochrome works, which were influenced by the bright compositions of Picasso, who Debré visited many times at his studio at Rue des Grands-Augustins in 1942, conveying the war’s destruction. Instead, the exhibition’s paintings signal a rebirth in their vibrancy and rich hues, reflecting the universal human sensations that are provoked by the relentless life force of nature, while showing an artist in his creative prime.

Olivier Debré will be open at Simon Lee Gallery until the 4th of August.

Installation view of ‘Olivier Debré’ at Simon Lee Gallery, London, 2023. Courtesy of Simon Lee Gallery. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates.